1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cathodic arc deposition method and apparatus more particularly to a cathodic arc deposition method and apparatus used for forming a wear resistant coating on cutting tools, bearings, gears and the like, and for film formation in the fields of electronic parts, printed circuits, optics, and magnetic devices.
2. Prior Art
Cathodic arc deposition principally includes generating a vapor emission of a film material from an evaporation source (cathode) by arc discharge in a vacuum chamber, and depositing the vapor on a substrate under the application of a negative bias voltage. One or more arc spots, where the arc discharge current is focused, are formed on the evaporation surface of the evaporation source, which is the cathode in an arc discharge circuit. From an arc spot, ions, neutral atoms, macroparticles of source material, and electrons are emitted in a beam due to the high current density at the arc spot. Ions of source material, which form a plasma together with the emitted electrons, are the species of primary importance in the film deposition. One characteristic feature of cathodic arc deposition is that the energy of the incident evaporated ions is high enough to produce a high-density film with excellent hardness and wear resistance. More than that, the rapid film formation and high productivity of the technique has been industrial application.
The following show examples of prior art cathodic arc deposition.